Arthur Cooper Final 21st June 2020

Arthur Cooper Final 21st June 2020

The Arthur Cooper is one of the most sought after prizes in the Alty GC trophy cabinet with 6 qualifiers played during the winter with the best 2 from each division going forward to the final to ensure an elite field of the clubs’ most in-form golfers ... the bogey format is not popular with all but it effectively pitches the golfer against the course hole by hole according to their  handicap . This year , because of the inclement weather only 4 of the 6 qualifying rounds were played and the Committee took the difficult decision to award the remaining 4 places in each division based on a lottery draw . By the day of the competition we had 15 of the 16 original qualifiers together  with 6 of those members lucky enough to gain a place through the lottery . 

A Cooper Final - the contenders

Gordon Boardman (-2/2/0) Former Alty Captain Gordon G. Boardman is these days perhaps best known as the (long-suffering) lifelong  chum and (golfing) partner of Alty legend Bernie Wood . The duo have a shared love of Manchester United and have travelled home and away following their beloved team through thick and thin . Golfing wise Gordon has magnificently managed to keep a low handicap for decades in a long Alty career … in that time he had amassed 12 Board Competition wins spanning an incredible 33 years . His victory today is his first triumph since his Roberts victory in 2016 . 

Gordon was the beneficiary of the Committees' decision to fill the remaining qualifying places by mode of the Round 6 lottery draw . He had been showing decent form post-lockdown and in his last round at the club 8 days earlier had attracted the notice of the handicapper who had docked him 0.2 with an encouraging 5th place in the Watson trophy .

Today Gordon has taken the fullest advantage of that good fortune by prevailing today in conditions that our finalists found to be very tricky . GGB started well in that he negotiated he increasingly difficult opening hole to halve it then secured a win with a great par on 2 before succumbing to the benign 3rd hole to go back to level . After 5 holes he remained on that mark before suffering losses on 6,7 and 9 with his front 9 highlight a birdie 3 which won him the 8th . - at the turn he thus found himself on -2 which placed him 4 'holes' behind the leader . Boardman halved 10 and 11  before losing 12 , now finding himself 5 holes behind and in need to regroup in the midst of our tough Amen Corner holes. He did so in superb fashion , managing to plunder a precious birdie 2 on the ever-dangerous 13th to get back to -2 and now on the fringes of contention . A half on 14 was followed by a magnificent par 5 to give him the win on 15 which now placed him in the joint lead . Using all his vast experience in playing the final trio of Championship holes Gordon halved 16 then crucially got a win of 17 courtesy of a par 4 to get himself back to level . He then halved the final hole to finish at level which was enough to take the Cooper by one hole for his ''unlucky' 13th Board Competition victory . 

Matt Astbury (0/-1/-1) Matt Astbury was the second qualifier in round 4 back in January but is a completely different player these days and very much the success story of this post-lockdown season , shaving a sensational 8.4 from his handicap to his present mark of 20.0 in the space of 8 days . Would he now be at a level which would keep him out of contention ? The answer to that question was NO given his performance today … that said Matt started poorly on the opening hole with his 3 wood tee shot going out of bounds and losing the hole but he regrouped magnificently , playing 2,3 and 4 showing  great iron play , getting on the green in regulation and then two putting to win all three to get him to +2 and firmly in contention . Today he was occasionally lacking off the tee and a wayward drive on the long 5th found the deeper rough causing a loss . After halving 6 his drive on 7 faded into the  trees causing  another loss which he again remedied with a win on 8 only to pull his tee shot into rough on 9 which again saw him pay the penalty and suffer another irritating loss . HIs rollercoaster front 9 nevertheless saw him at level at the turn just 2 holes off the lead . 

He again responded superbly to a loss by winning 10 , maintained momentum halving 11 before succumbing to Amen Corner losing 3 of his next 4 holes but still remained just one off the lead as he stood on the 16th tee . Although Matt only halved 16 he produced a vital one putt on 17 to get back to -1 and then outrageously holed a long putt from the back of the green to salvage a half to finish at -1 but sadly for him he was one hole shy of the winner . Another magnificent round from our most improved player , no handicap cut but a round worthy of the buffer zone . 

Matt Goodall (-3/1/-2) Matt was the second Division 1 qualifier in round 2 back in February and  has had a good start to his post-lockdown  season without quite hitting the heights . Today our former long-serving Secretary was one of many who succumbed to a loss at the tricky opening hole , his opening salvo of a front 9 that was a rollercoaster ride in the frustration of losses at 1 and 3 , the fightback with consecutive wins on 4 and 5 to get back to level only for him to lose 6,8 and 9 to get to the turn 5 holes off the lead at -3  .Sadly Matt could not stem the tide and losses at the benign 10th and 11th followed to go -5 and well out of contention . Holes 12-15 are considered our Amen Corner and represent our toughest test but Matt enjoys playing his golf aggressively and his long-hitting , when in accurate mode can be a massive advantage .  It certainly was the case today as he plundered 3 wins on 12,14,15 with only the short 13th causing him to record a loss . Incredibly Matt was now just 2 holes from the lead with 3 holes remaining and requiring a spectacular finish to take the spoils . Although he did not prevail , halving 16 and 17 then crucially winning the final hole meant a -2 finish and a very creditable 3rd place with the inescapable fact that IF Matt had played the 'easier' holes better he would have come very close to taking his  11th Board Competition victory .

Lee Lomas (-1/-1/-2) was another recipient of the Round 6 lottery draw and this offered him a chance to change his fortunes after an uninspiring post-lockdown campaign thus far in his three previous summer rounds . Today he was one of many who lost the first hole but he regrouped very well , putting together a loss-free run of 6 holes with wins on 4 and 7 ( the latter achieved with a superb birdie 3 ) to get into contention at +1 before succumbing to the high indexed but deceptively tricky 8th and 9th holes to reach the turn at -1 , 3 holes away from the lead . Unfortunately he just could not get his game together as he suffered consecutive losses at 10.11 and 12 to tumble down the leaderboard now at -4 . He finished the round well , with just one more loss at the benign 16 yet having the skills to grab wins on 13 ,17 and 18 , a sterling finish which catapulted him from the obscurity of mid-table to an encouraging 4th place on -2 … another Division 1 member doubtless reflecting on the folly of falling foul of too many of our easier holes . 

Lee Cullen (2/-4/-2) Lee qualified for the final as the second Div 2 Round 1 qualifier back in November last year and he came to the first tee on an undoubted high given his heroics in taking the Bailey trophy  just 24 hours earlier with the bonus of retaining his 22 handicap status . Today he maintained his form , halving the difficult opening hole then winning 4 of the next 5 holes with only his shock loss on the short 3rd a blot after victories on 2,4,5 and 6 to take control of the competition . He consolidated his position halving 7 and 8 before again falling foul of a high indexed hole to lose the 9th but getting to the turn with a one hole lead over Committee men Stuart Mason ( Mr Captain) and Carl Grout . 

Cullen continued to impress and a win on 10 and halving 11 had him standing on the 12th tee at the heady heights of +3 and now in a clear lead . His play on the back 9 the previous day had seen him come from behind to take the spoils . The question was whether he could replicate that form and complete the elusive  Bailey / Cooper double ? Sadly Lee was feted not to win another hole as his game collapsed with 5 successive losses ( the last 4 not registering a score ) as he fell from +3 to -2 . Although he regrouped to halve the final two holes he stumbled to a 6th place finish as the Amen Corner holes that were pivotal to his success just one day earlier were the architect of his demise today . 

Special mentions ...

Carl Grout (1/-3/-2) Carl was first Div 2 qualifier of Round 5 back in February and is an individual who has undoubtedly been one of our most improved players post-lockdown . Although he will be moving to golfing pastures new at the end of the summer he will be utilising his membership to compete for the next few months and will be a  live contender on current form . Today Carl was one of only two members to win the tricky first hole to immediately give him a great start . Sadly he was to lose 2 and 3 but then embark on a solid quintet of holes that saw him loss-free but with wins gained on 4,6 and 7 to get him to +2 and in second place  as he stood on the 9th tee , the supposed easiest hole on the course which strangely does not look that way to many of us .  Carl stumbled to a 6 to lose that hole but compounded matters with further losses on 10,11 and 12 to tumble down the table at -2 , now 4 holes back . Grout could not  totally fix the cracks appearing in his game and heartening  wins on 14 and 16 were tempered by losses on 15 and 17 . halving the last meant a score of -2 and a 5th placed finish  

Mr Captain (1/-6/-5) Stuart Mason was the first Div 1 qualifier in Round 1 back in November 2019 and 2020 has seen him have a great start to his golfing and ceremonial season with one Board Competition already to his name . Today he shot into the joint leadership as the only other player who managed to win the opening hole . Unlike the vast majority who found the opening few holes difficult , our Captain hit the ground running and roared into an early lead courtesy of further wins on 3 and 4 to put himself on +3 . Steady play on 5,6 and 7 got him halves on each hole so he must have been more than happy as he stood on the 8th tee given his excellent start .Sadly Mr Captain had a quite ghastly  run of 8 losses ( including no less than 4 lip-outs that would have given him halves ) in the next 9 holes with only his halving of the difficult 14th saving him from total domination by our beloved course.. A brave win on 17 provided a momentary comfort before a ninth loss of the round on the final hole left him from the heady heights of leading to a lowly 16th placed finish of one of most in-form golfers . 

Defending Champion Watch …

Roy Dickens (-4/-1/-5) Our Past Captain Roy Dickens qualified not through his 2019 victory but through the Round 6 lottery . Today he started poorly , losing his opening 3 holes before steadying himself with a trio of halves . Two further losses were incurred on 7 and 9 with his only highlight a win on 8 .Roy fared slightly better on a back 9 that was damaged initially by NRs on both par 5s and although he would sustain further losses on 17 he did ensure a -5 finish by wins on 16 and 18 . Sadly that poor start meant that he could never get into any sort of contention and he finished in 13th position . 

Overall a day which perhaps showcased the unseen but very prominent difference in competing at Board Competition level  as our other members competing in the Social event posted better scores . Our beloved course continues to gradually get back to a better standard and today unquestionably had the upper hand on the membership .